The cp (copy) command lets you duplicate a file of choice. Here is an explanation by examples:
cp cocoon butterfly
makes a duplicate of the file cocoon and gives it the name
butterfly. Note that the filenames can include pathnames as well.
cp /home/cernan/taylor/tex/contract ../contract.bak
makes a copy of the file contract found in the
/home/cernan/taylor/tex directory and places it one directory
level above the working directory in a file called contract.bak.
If /home/cernan/taylor/tex is a directory, then
cp report /home/cernan/taylor/tex
will place a copy of report in the /home/cernan/taylor/tex
directory with the name report.
cp /home/cernan/taylor/tex/headlines .
will copy the file headlines in the /home/cernan/taylor/tex
directory into the working directory. The name will remain unchanged.
cp /home/cernan/taylor/tex/* .
will copy all the files (but not the subdirectories) in
/home/cernan/taylor/tex into the working directory. You
can copy all the subdirectories in the directory and files contained
in them by using the -r (recursive) flag as follows:
cp -r /home/cernan/taylor/tex/* .
Another useful flag is the -i (interactive) flag which prompts
you if you are about to overwrite an existing file.